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PODCAST

Bay Curious

Bay Curious is a show about your questions – and the adventures you find when you go looking for the answers. Join host Olivia Allen-Price to explore all aspects of the San Francisco Bay Area – from the debate over "Frisco", to the dinosaurs that once roamed California, to the causes of homelessness. Whether you lived here your whole life, or just arrived, Bay Curious will deepen your understanding of this place you call home.

society & culture places & travel

All Episodes

31:13

A Spirited Debate Over the Best Movies Filmed in SF

Bay Curious ·

2025/12/18

San Francisco is an iconic looking city, so it's a little surprising that more movies aren't shot here. There are a lot of reasons for that -- cost being a main one -- but there are some very cool movies both set and filmed here. Olivia discusses some of the best ones with San Francisco Chronicle writer Peter Hartlaub and resident KQED movie obsessive, Carly Severn.Additional Resources: The Best San Francisco Movies to Stream This Holiday Season Read the transcript for this episode

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20:27

SFO's One-of-a-Kind Art Museum

Bay Curious ·

2025/12/11

Barry Asin flies through SFO about once a month and often stops to take a look at the art exhibits dotted throughout the terminals. He particularly loves the history exhibits that showcase what makes the Bay Area unique, seeing it as a nice welcome to travelers visiting the area. He wants to know more about who curates the exhibits, how they decide what to bring in and what we can expect in the future.Additional Resources: Read the transcript for this episode Why the 'O' In San

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25:43

The Historic Mansion Hidden Under the Bay Bridge

Bay Curious ·

2025/12/04

Tucked under the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge is a once-grand mansion known as the Nimitz House. Bay Curious listener Ben Kaiser wants to know nearly everything about it from who lived in it, to what it might become in the future. Turns out, this weathered home in the middle of San Francisco Bay used to be the quarters of the top Navy commander on Yerba Buena Island and is named for a five-star admiral who died there.Additional Resources: There's a Grand Historic House Hiding Under the

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17:01

Were Chain Stores Once Banned in San Francisco?

Bay Curious ·

2025/11/20

San Francisco is known for its distinct neighborhoods, each with its own shopping street, full of local businesses. Listener Sarah Soule grew up in the city and remembers hearing that San Francisco didn't allow big box stores or chains to open within city limits. But recently she's seen more chains and wonders if that was true. We trace the history of San Francisco's regulation of chain stores and the effect it has had on the city.Additional Resources: San Francisco's Love/Hate Relationship

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16:53

The Girl in the Fishbowl at Bimbo's 365 Club

Bay Curious ·

2025/11/13

Rita Hayworth, Robin Williams, Adele — these are just a few of the huge stars that have graced the stage of Bimbo’s 365 Club over its 94 years in San Francisco. But the act the club is most famous for is Dolphina — or the “Girl in the Fishbowl.” Dolphina isn’t a person, though; she’s a character who’s been played by many different women since 1931. When Dolphinaperforms, it looks like there is a real, live woman, shrunk down to 6 inches, swimming in a fish tank at the bar. How did this quirky act

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18:31

When Biological Weapons Were Secretly Tested in San...

Bay Curious ·

2025/11/06

In 1950, the U.S. military sprayed bacteria over San Francisco as part of a biological weapons test. The test team thought the bacteria it used was harmless, but several people got sick and one person died. We explore the history and impacts of this clandestine operation, now known as Operation Seaspray, on U.S. military policy and one man's family.Additional Resources: The True Story of the Military's Secret 1950 San Francisco Biological Weapons Test Read the transcript for this

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23:53

Who Killed Jane Stanford? Inside A 120-Year-Old Mystery

Bay Curious ·

2025/10/30

Stanford University on the San Francisco peninsula is a rarified place, so its intriguing that even 120 years after her death, there's still a mystery surrounding the death of Jane Stanford, the university's co-founder. It's a story full of tyrants, frenemies, poisoning and cover-ups that you won't want to miss.Additional Resources: Who Killed Jane Stanford? Inside the 120-Year-Old Mystery Read the transcript for this episode Spooky Bay Curious Spotify Playlist Sign up for our

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21:38

Proposition 50, Thoroughly Explained

Bay Curious ·

2025/10/23

California voters have one proposition on the ballot this November: Proposition 50. It's supporters want California to adopt a new congressional map that could give Democrats five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, a counter to similar actions taken in Texas. Opponents say it's a step in the wrong direction for good governance, or are upset at the potential loss of Republican seats. We wade into the debate with KQED's Guy Marzorati. Additional Reading: ⁠Read a transcript of this

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35:53

The Punk Club That Changed San Francisco

Bay Curious ·

2025/10/16

In San Francisco, Mabuhay Gardens was the epicenter of punk. Located on Broadway at the edge of North Beach and Chinatown, it was ground zero for the city's emerging punk movement in the late 1970s. The Filipino restaurant and nightclub hosted many of the era's most iconic punk bands — including the Avengers, Dead Kennedys, and the Jim Carroll Band. Even punk rock icon Patti Smith took the stage. In this episode, we dig into the history and legacy of the so-called "Fab Mab."Additional

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18:07

Why So Many Motels on Lombard Street?

Bay Curious ·

2025/10/09

Lombard Street is famous for its winding brick lane, but beyond that iconic block lies something unexpected: a stretch of old-school motels. Why so many in one place? This week on Bay Curious, we explore how the growing popularity of automobiles – and the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge – transformed Lombard Street into a bustling hub for motor lodges. Then, we’ll head south to the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge to unpack its history.Additional Resources: Why Are There So Many Motels on San

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18:18

La Llorona: Ghost or Protector? You Decide

Bay Curious ·

2025/10/02

In the popular telling, La Llorona is a ghost. She’s the spirit of a woman who haunts watery places, wailing for her lost children. But as with all stories, the meaning of the myth has changed over time and many people now see La Llorona as a protector. For spooky October, we explore the ghostly myth that frightens children and the more empowering version of the legend.Additional Resources: La Llorona, Legend and Protector, In the Streets of San Francisco Read the transcript for this

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22:28

Bears, Coyotes, Mountain Lions While Hiking or...

Bay Curious ·

2025/09/25

As we go about our lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and explore this beautiful state, it's not uncommon to encounter wild animals. Whether you're hiking in the Santa Cruz mountains and see warnings about mountain lions, or camping in Tahoe where bears have learned human ways, there are some things to know about how to stay safe. KQED's audience desk reporters Sarah Wright and Carly Severn join us with helpful tips about how to coexist in nature with the animals that also call it

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20:40

SF Stairways: Shortest, Longest, and Steepest

Bay Curious ·

2025/09/18

There are over 900 stairways in San Franciso. Some are simple wooden stairs, others beautiful climbs covered in mosaics, or utilitarian concrete steps. It’s incredibly charming and a delightful surprise to many visitors. Bay Curious listener George Krause fell in love withe stairways between photo shoots and wanted to know which are the shortest, longest and steepest stairways in the city. Many of you are stair-curious too!Additional Resources: Stairways Crisscross the Hills of San

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15:30

The Bay Area’s Got A Wild Pig Problem

Bay Curious ·

2025/09/11

Originally imported to Monterey County for sport by a wealthy landowner in the 1920s, wild boars now number in the hundreds of thousands, and they are destroying sensitive habitats and suburban lawns all over the state, including Morgan Hill, Lafayette and San Jose. Bay Curious listener Travis Mowbray wondered if there were any creative solutions to the problem.Additional Resources: Invasion of the Grub Snatchers: How One Rich Guy's Boars Colonized California Read the transcript for this

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18:12

Amusement Parks of Yore: Playland-at-the-Beach and...

Bay Curious ·

2025/08/28

Summer is coming to an end, so we're taking a journey back in time to remember two amusement parks that have etched themselves into the imaginations of generations of Bay Area residents: Idora Park in Oakland and San Francisco's Playland at the Beach. This story originally aired in September of 2022, but we're bringing it back to celebrate the end of summer.Additional Resources Idora Park and Playland-at-the-Beach: Bay Area Amusement Parks of a Bygone Era Read the episode transcript

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26:14

Reversing Extinction? Sea Otters and Butterflies Hold...

Bay Curious ·

2025/08/21

The Bay Area is a biodiversity hotspot, home to species found nowhere else on Earth. But decades of urbanization have pushed many of these animals — and the ecosystems they depend on — to the edge. Can science bring them back? In this episode, we examine the remarkable comeback of the southern sea otter and an ongoing effort to resurrect the long lost Xerces blue butterfly.Additional Resources: Is Extinction Permanent? Resurrecting California's Xerces Blue Butterfly Healthy Otters Lead to

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19:57

Are Seagulls Native to the Bay Area?

Bay Curious ·

2025/08/14

Seagulls are everywhere in the Bay Area — flocking to Giant's games in San Francisco and crowding South Bay salt ponds. But are they actually native? Once seasonal visitors from Mono Lake, they've recently become year-round residents. We get to the bottom of this gull invasion.Additional Resources: Are California Gulls Native or Invasive to the Bay Area? Maybe Both Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia

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24:09

How Fremont Became Known As 'Little Kabul'

Bay Curious ·

2025/08/07

Over the past 40 years, Afghans have steadily immigrated to the East Bay town of Fremont, hoping to start new lives close to others who share their language and culture. We trace four waves of immigration and check in with Afghans who've chosen to settle in Fremont.Additional Resources: How Did Fremont Become Known As 'Little Kabul'? Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Got a question you

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46:22

Julia Morgan: A Thoroughly Bay Area Architect

Bay Curious ·

2025/07/31

Julia Morgan, the pioneering female architect, was born in San Francisco, raised in Oakland and educated at UC Berkeley and the the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She designed over 700 buildings, many of them in the Bay Area, and had a huge impact on the field of architecture. We dig into her life and legacy.Additional Resources: Read the transcript for this episode Check out the New Angle: Voice podcast Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly

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19:20

How Daly City Became A Filipino Hub

Bay Curious ·

2025/07/24

Nearly one in three Daly City residents identify as Filipino, according to 2019 Census data. Bay Curious listener Ricky Tjandra wondered what makes this town just south of San Francisco such an international hub of Filipino life. We dig into more than a hundred years of history between the U.S and the Philippines and talk to current residents of Daly City.Additional Resources: In Daly City, the Bayanihan Spirit Is Alive and Well Read the transcript for this episode How Daly City

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